Zentetsu Philip Kapleau, Roshi 1912-2004

To Zentetsu Philip Kapleau:

Arriving and departing
seasons come and seasons go
And yet, the pure Dharma body
remains inextinguishable.
Beyond telling,
absolutely, beyond telling.
How then can I express it?
Aieeeeeeee–e–e–e–e!
The striking of thunder,
sounds of the valley streams,
All sing, the 84,000 hymns
of the endless spring.
This day’s dawning
is the first morning.

Muge Daido
Zen Mountain Monastery

Zentetsu Philip Kapleau, Roshi, author of The Three Pillars of Zen and founder
of the Rochester Zen Center in upstate New York, died on May 6, 2004 from
complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Philip Kapleau left the US and moved to a Monastery in Japan in 1953. He
spent the next thirteen years undergoing rigorous Zen training under three
Japanese Zen masters before being ordained by Hakuun Yasutani-roshi in 1965
and given permission to teach. Roshi Kapleau’s book chronicling his
training in Japan, The Three Pillars of Zen, was published in 1965. Still
in print, it was the first practice-oriented book on Zen training in the
West and has been translated into twelve languages. In June 1966, upon returning
to the United States and as a result of interest generated by the book, he
was able to found the Rochester Zen Center.

In addition to The Three Pillars of Zen, Kapleau’s other books include
The Zen of Living and Dying, Zen: Merging of East and West, To
Cherish All Life, Awakening to Zen, and Straight to the
Heart of Zen. He is survived
by his wife, deLancey Kapleau, and his daughter, Sudarshana Kapleau.